Okinawa Peace Movement Center chairman arrested

The chairman of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center was arrested Monday on suspicion of damaging property at U.S. North Training Area border.

According to police, 64-year-old Hiroji Yamashiro, the chairman of the Okinawa Peace Movement Center, is suspected of cutting a barbed wire fence surrounding the U.S. North Training Area in Takae, Higashi Village. Police say Yamashiro is in custody, and has remained silent since his arrest.

Police say an eyewitness saw Yamashiro cutting two barbed wires set on top of the fence to prevent people from entering the contraction site of a helipad. The site is located about 1.8 kilometers northeast from the main gate of the Training Area. Okinawa Defense Bureau had set up the fence.

When the accident occurred, there were tens of people, including Yamashiro, and staff from Okinawa Defense Bureau asked them to leave. A bureau staff member witnessed Yamashiro cutting the barbed wire using something like pliers, and called police. Police dispatched a patrol to the scene that pursued and arrested Yamashiro away from the scene of the incident on prefectural road No.70.